


Do As You Please

by ImogenSmiley



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: 52 Week Oneshot Challenge, Adultery, Affairs, Betrayal, Canon Compliant, Character Development, Cheating, Distress, F/M, Family Angst, Family Drama, Grief, How did Inu Kimi cope with Inu no Taisho's death?, I guess you can read it as Sessrin???, If you want to???, Inu Yasha Movie Three: Swords of a Heavenly Ruler, InuYasha Movie 3, Mourning, Oneshot, Rin's Choice, Sesshoumaru Centric, Swords of a Heavenly Ruler, the passage of time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:40:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27133316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImogenSmiley/pseuds/ImogenSmiley
Summary: Inu Kimi was a strong woman, and she would be damned if her wretched husband and his selfish habits rubbed off on her son. But, of course, like any parent, she had to let him go at some point; make his own decisions, his own choices, his own mistakes. His severed arm’s refusal to regenerate was reason enough for him to know that. But, yet he still found himself, consciously or not, drawn to the same recklessness which brought his father to his grave.
Relationships: Inu no Taishou/Izayoi, Inu no Taishou/Sesshoumaru's Mother
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Do As You Please

**Author's Note:**

> I have had this idea for so long, and since the new InuYasha story has dropped recently (not that I've had time to start watching it yet) I wanted to explore Sesshoumaru's character again. I love him SO much!

Inu Kimi was a strong woman, and she would be damned if her wretched husband and his selfish habits rubbed off on her son. But, of course, like any parent, she had to let him go at some point; make his own decisions, his own choices, his own mistakes. His severed arm’s refusal to regenerate was reason enough for him to know that. But, yet he still found himself, consciously or not, drawn to the same recklessness which brought his father to his grave.

She was a high-standing demon, and her marriage to the great dakoyokai Inu Taisho had been arranged from their birth. Their relationship was, amicable, but they did the jobs for which they were expected, ruling their lands, preventing wars and attempting to conquer more territory. Eventually, they had a child, too, which was when they were fortunate enough to share a goal.

Sesshoumaru was everything they could have ever dreamed of, a beautiful boy with the fair face of his mother, but would be trained in the art of conquest like his father. He would inherit their domain and expand their rule from the West, to much further. He would be better than either of them could be on their own, because he was their son. A product of their strengths.

As the young demon grew older, it was clear he had gained affinities for grace and speed, just like his mother, but was developing strong sword skills. Throughout childhood, Sesshoumaru had gazed at the trio of sheaths that rested over his father’s kimono, each blade was fit for purpose. One was a rapier, one was a sledgehammer, and one was like medicine. He rarely saw his father draw the final blade, but he had a great preference for the rapier, Tessaiga, with beautiful strength, power, and precision. His son longed to wield it someday.

Inu Kimi was adamant that her son would know more than just war-mongering. He would be proficient in negotiations, communication and would be able to master weapons other than his swords. His father had told him of the power that came from a blade, but his mother told him that there was strength in being able to bloody your hands without getting them dirty. For which, he needed to master his human form, and understand how to use not only his mokomoko, but the whip of sheer light energy he could produce from his claws.

Poisonous claws were powerful, but only in a close proximity battle. And, being a demon with such a strong, and pure bloodline, once an adult, Sesshoumaru would be better

When Sesshoumaru was 100 years old when he left the sanctuary of the lands from where he had been raised. He had torn a fang from his gum and had a blade fashioned from his own bone, an extension of his arm, dependable in times of need. He would be fine.

Of course, his parents kept an eye on him, sending Myoga The Flea, Totosai and many of their servants to act as their eyes, keeping an eye on the young demon.

He had carried himself well, but had run into a lot of trouble, never anything major, scraps over territory, scraps over food, scraps over menial things as nomadic young ones often did. Inu Tashio was not worried about his son, Sesshoumaru looked just like his mother, and anyone with any standing would recognise his crescent moon mark on his forehead and know they were beneath him. In the West, there would be nobody who dared stand up against him. Or, at least, nobody Sesshoumaru couldn’t kill.

He grew in confidence, and skill equally as he learned that his footing in society was, in essence, above anyone he crossed. He was enjoying independence, power, and freedom. There was no doubt in his mind, The West was a beautiful, diverse, and expansive land. But, there were still three more quadrants of this land yet to be conquered. He learned that that was what he wanted; he longed to see, to explore.

He celebrated his 300th birthday with his mother, visiting her in the beautiful castle from which he had been raised. There had been no cake nor candles like humans would likely experience. Instead, they simply sat together and spoke, for the first time in half a century, which was when Inu Kimi, had flatly interjected the state of her marriage into the conversation. Careful as ever to make sure her son had understood what occurred, she was reluctant to keep him in the dark. He was three hundred years old, he could know of his father’s adultery with the dirt, in as much detail as she had been told.

There was a woman; wealthy, beautiful, apparently some form of Princess from one of the many castles in the large provinces. She had raven hair and soft, round features; beautiful dark eyes, and tanned, rosy skin.

Inu Kimi repeated her husband’s words about the other woman, explaining how he had merely happened upon her, after a battle, beneath a tree. He had been hiding, attempting to recuperate in the trees, not realising the palace he had been hiding in was occupied. She had spoken to him fondly, offered him food, shelter, rest. It was only when she saw the markings on his face that she recoiled, just a little. She was startled, but not afraid.

“Humans and their pitiful curiosity,” Inu Kimi had said, rolling her topaz eyes, violet painted claws raised to her prominent collar bones.

Sesshoumaru had simply nodded, there was little he could do to argue with his mother; he had encountered a few villagers in his time, accusing him of atrocities because he passed by, demanded to know who he thought he was, and, as they pointed their weapons at him, he had had no choice but to dispose of them, and feast. He would be full for months. Humans tasted putrid.

Inu Kimi continued by explaining that this noblewoman had found herself able to seduce the wandering eye of the once-great dakoyokai and how repulsed she was that she had even touched him now that humans were drinking from his cup.

Sesshoumaru agreed. He wrinkled his fair face, contorting it into one of disdain as his mother continued to explain why her husband was no longer welcome in her palace. This might be their shared domain that they were living in together, but they had been married for over four hundred years and adultery after that long being married was just squander and she was not yet prepared to take him back after such action. Maybe someday, once the mortal woman died and he came crawling back. Sure she knew he had Tenseiga, but she had the onyx jewel of stars, they both that the power to revive, but she certainly wouldn’t be wasting it on humans. Never in her life.

That mortal would be dead within a hundred years, and perhaps then she would be willing to forgive.

Sesshoumaru knew his mother; she was hurting more than she cared to admit. He could see her deep honey-coloured eyes and how they refused to look her son in the eye, their chats never lasted long, but at least she would allow him to fill her time when he did visit. She was never a particularly warm mother, but demons were never meant to be warm. They didn’t need to be; they were better than that. But that didn’t mean they were unfeeling; evidently.

He had excused himself not long after that, and, fuelled by resentment for his father, he sought out the adulterer. His father had left his mother’s pride wounded and a blow like that would not heal quickly.

It took three months to track him down, and by then, it was too late. His father was beyond help; his wife would never forgive him. He had impregnated the human woman, Izayoi and there was a half-demon child growing inside her. Disgusting.

Regardless of his anger, he had remained near his father, staying far enough away that his he would be unable to smell him. He would feign innocence as if he was just doing as he usually did; meandering around the westward lands, making sure the demons below him were loyal to his family, and the power they held.

He had met with his father multiple times, but only when it appeared like there had been enough time between those supposedly chance encounters. His father was far too busy, preparing for the arrival of his second-born that he had barely had time to think of much else.

Sesshoumaru had loathed the decision his father had made, he was repulsed by how Izayoi’s would waddle out of her palace into the gardens and call out to his father when she saw Sesshoumaru, because he was seemingly the only demon that was roaming the region.

He had contemplated killing the infant while it was still inside the human’s bloated torso, one sweeping gash along her middle with his poisoned claws would easily take her out, but his father would have known. And so, he, reluctantly accepted that he would have a sibling.

That was before the fight with Ryūkotsusei.

Scornful, Sesshoumaru theorised that his father had lost the fight solely to be nursed by his pregnant lover. But, she was unable to help him; the wounds were too deep, and she was unable to bend over to sew the wounds closed as humans did.

Near to death, Inu No Taisho had transformed back into his true form; bleeding heavily, fur turning pink from the sheer volume. He had howled, vocalising his pain to his kind. Without thinking, his son and his wife made their way to him.

Sesshoumaru arrived first, he cauterised his father’s wounds closed with his whip of light energy, telling his father to be careful because any strain for perhaps two days would cause the wounds to reopen.

He had hoped to leave then, but the bells sounded from Izayoi’s village. She had gone into labour; the midwives were being summoned to her aid. Men, fathers or not, were not allowed in the birthing room. A modest, human custom. There was no such need in Demon Society; children were birthed from the mother, and usually, into the waiting arms of the father.

But, he had been a nuisance to this village more than enough already. He needn’t inconvenience them by disturbing their customs. After all, he would likely be making this land his domain in a matter of hours or stealing Izayoi away.

He waited, and, curious, Sesshoumaru had kept his father company.

He had been restless, pacing along with the falling snow, fidgeting. Sesshoumaru watched him, they could both hear the mutterings of the soldiers below their perch. The humans intended to have Inu Taisho killed for impregnating the princess, and his father was in no fit state to take down an entire village.

It had been hours, but still, the putrid odour of a half-demon had barely hit their noses. It seemed, that the child had been delivered.

“Father, do you insist on going?”

“Do you intend to stop me, Sesshoumaru?” his father asked the gash in his shoulder already reopening, blood pouring onto the ground beneath them.

Sesshoumaru stared at the back of his father, voice even, level and hard, “I will not stand in your way. However, before you go, you must entrust the swords Sounga and Tessaiga to me.”

“And if I refuse? Do you intend to kill me? Your own father.”

Sesshoumaru didn’t reply. He didn’t need to; they both knew his answer.

“Do you desire power so much? Why do you seek power, my son?”

“The path I walk is the way of supreme conquest and it is power that will reveal the way for me.”

“Supreme conquest, tell me Sesshoumaru, do you have someone to protect?”

“Protect?”

Sesshoumaru glared at his father, grinding his teeth, “The answer is no. I, Sesshoumaru have no need of such.”

His father growled to himself. arching his shoulders back, and transforming back into his true form, a blood-soaked demon, who raced toward the village.

Sesshoumaru walked in the opposite direction.

His father was dead within half an hour.

Inu Kimi had arrived, having heard her husband’s howl, and traveled as quickly as she could. But the village that had once been home to Izayoi, was in ashes. The corpse of her husband visible beneath the castle.

She knelt beside the wreckage, her snow-white hair billowing behind her. She looked like a ghost; or a guide for the lost spirits, and at her husband’s exposed arm, she wept. Her onyx jewel of stars could not save him; he had left this world.

Inu Kimi never called for her son after his father’s passing. He would deal with those emotions however was best for him. He knew where he stood in the world before, just one step below his father. When the time came, he was going to inherit his domain. It just happened to be earlier than anticipated. To be merely three hundred years old and have the entirety of the West under his heel.

She tried not to be concerned, after all, he was not his father. Sesshoumaru was her son and he had no such afflictions involving mortals. He would rule well.

Sesshoumaru thought little of the brother that disgusted him so. But when he did pass by the village where he grew, he lingered. The child was curious to him, he reminded him of his father, in the most horrible ways. He was the physical embodiment of his father’s mistakes, and because of that wretched half-demon boy, he had been unable to claw his father’s domain from him. It was just thrust upon him.

Usually, high standing demons do battle for such rights. But any chance of overpowering his father had been snatched from him, not only by his father’s reckless quarreling with Ryūkotsusei but by that awful mortal woman and their spawn. InuYasha.

Oh, how Sesshoumaru loathed him.

The half demon boy grew like human children until he reached the same age that demons were stunted at physically. Young enough to allure, but old enough to seduce. The nature of vengeful seduction and murder was not uncommon for demons, although Sesshoumaru found it easier to quash armies that crossed him in his wanderings.

It wasn’t long before his sibling sought him out. For a short while, Sesshoumaru’s disdain was met with empathy, the human in InuYasha’s blood mocking him as he offered friendship, and aid to his older, more capable sibling in exchange for training. Sesshoumaru, however, did not need a companion. He had two wards that travelled by his heel; his loyal steed, a nameless reptilian horse demon, with two heads, and his newest companion, a small, talkative toad demon, who wielded The Staff of Two Heads with a reckless lack of control that was amusing enough. He had no need for his brother’s allegiance.

All he needed to be the strongest demon, and be the bringer of conquest, were his father’s blades. And, there was no way, some wretched half-demon brat would be of any aid to acquire those.

He believed he was right, when fifty years after finally shrugging his nuisance of a brother off him, he happened across his body, petrified in a magical sleep, pinned to a tree with an arrow. He had laughed in his brother’s face before continuing to pass through. InuYasha wasn’t worth his time.

What good is a sword that cannot cut? Snubbed by his father until the very end, the one sword he refused, the one he resisted, the one he did not request, happened to be the blade sheathed across his waist.

He was sore, more from the slander than the missing arm, he was sure it would return to him soon enough. Demons bodies were different from humans, and although a human like InuYasha’s new pet Kagome couldn’t regenerate limbs, and he was unsure whether InuYasha could, Sesshoumaru was confident it would happen. He just had to let it.

He could still fulfill his quest with one arm. His lack of a left arm hadn’t caused Jaken or his steed to mock him.

What had made Jaken in particular scornful, was his master’s reaction to the encroaching volumes of wolf demons from the North. He knew of Koga, although he had never met this prosperous hound. But, Koga did, inadvertently give him a blessing he never would have anticipated; Rin.

When Rin first happened upon him, he had been sulking, venomous, and craving destruction, but despite his attempts to repulse her, inspire fear, the mute child did not run.

When the wolves killed her village and mauled her to death, Sesshoumaru found her body, farther away than the others, nearer to him. Had she been hoping he would rescue her, protect her? Foolish mortal.

But yet, Tenseiga longed to be used, longed to drawn, and he couldn’t deny the blade. And so, he resurrected the child, and gifted her a life with a voice. What a beautiful voice; rambling stories that went nowhere, pointless songs and a mind laden with imagination. She named his steed, each one of the two-headed creature’s having its own name, together they were Ah-Un, and that name would stick forevermore.

He had hoped to deposit the child in the nearest village, but everyone he encountered was being sieged by that nuisance Naraku. He couldn’t guarantee the child would be safe in anyone else’s care. It made no sense to leave her in the hands of people incapable of taking care of her. A child with such a mind needed to be protected. She was unlike that Izayoi he had met, no, she was just devoted to his father, a repulsive woman that cared for him only for the face he put on. She saw him for the façade demons wear to feast, to thrive, to kill. She had been tempted and seduced.

This child saw Sesshoumaru as power, which was why she was allowed to live. She accepted her place was under his heel and obeyed his every whim. And, she was entertaining. Not like that Izayoi. Never like her.

But he certainly had a new understanding of his father’s awful declaration. The last thing his father said had mocked him for centuries, but, there he was, going out of his way to keep this child safe. He respected her for her lack of care for the dangers of the world. Everything was immediate, everything was rewarding. Rin lived for immediate gratification, and it was fascinating. But it would be a lie to say that she didn’t put herself in danger with those same foolish impulses.

He had saved her from immeasurable near-death experiences, better than any mortal man could have done, but had he left her in a village, would she have ever encountered such things? She surely wouldn’t have been attacked a fraction of the number of times that she was in his company, but she was a reckless child so falling from great heights were not things that were impossible for her to achieve without him.

He was grateful to have protected her. She didn’t deserve a painful death.

It was just months after she joined him, that Sesshoumaru found Rin, encountering Inu Kimi. Usually, Sesshoumaru had a summons for the palace in the sky, he rarely had to hunt down his elusive mother.

“Sesshoumaru,” his mother had said upon their arrival, “If I do recall, you said you despised humans. But here you are with two human children in your company. Perhaps you intend to eat them?”

The comment had not surprised Rin, nor their new companion, Kohaku, demon slayer and brother of Sango. Instead of responding to his mother’s query, Sesshoumaru responded with his own.

“Tenseiga can be used to open a pathway to the Underworld, Father must have told you about it at some point.”

“Oh, your father never spoke of it, he simply gave me this Maedo Stone,” Inu Kimi said, gesturing to a hefty necklace which sat on her shoulder-blades. It was covered in pearls, with a beautiful gold pendant with the onyx jewel inside. The jewel reflected the night sky back at Sesshoumaru and his companions, a beautiful trinket. He remembered it from his childhood, and had never seen his mother without it, even after his father disgraced her. But, until then, he had never known its name.

“A Maedo Stone?”

“He told me to use it if you should ever come to me for advice. Oh, and he mentioned something else as well,” Inu Kimi said, a small smile crawling across her mauve lips, “As I recall he said that using the Maedo Stone would place you in great danger, but he told me not to be worried or sad about that.”

Rin had leaned closer to Master Jaken, observing with wide eyes, to the child, Inu Kimi was absolutely stunning, a beauty immeasurable in words, every inch of her was perfectly sculpted to be appealing to mortal eyes.

“She seems to be good at not worrying,” she whispered.

Jaken nodded, eyes peeled, eyeing the dakoyokai with suspicion, a beat of sweat trickling down his scaly forehead.

“Whatever shall I do?” Inu Kimi baited, smiling pleasantly at her guests, holding the stone in her cupped hands, “Your mother is terribly distressed.”

“Hah,” Sesshoumaru snorted, “Your words are hollow as always.”

“Very well then,” she replied, holding the stone out to him, “I shall have you entertain me.”

And with that declaration, she turned the stone in her hands, a golden light bursting from inside.

From within, a monstrous reddish ghoul, donning the face and body of a dakoyokai burst from inside the stone, claws poised as it growled.

“Maedostone Ghetsuha!” Sesshoumaru had said, slashing the creature across the neck as it lurched toward him.

Inu Kimi tilted her head to the side, resting it on crimson claws, “So this is Sesshoumaru’s Maedo, it’s nowhere near a complete circle.”

Jaken stomped his scaly foot against the staircase, eyes clamped shut, but gawked up at Inu Kimi, beady eyes wide with astonishment, “What? You mean Lord Sesshoumaru’s sword can’t cut through it?”

“It’s a hound from the Underworld,” Inu Kimi replied, “At present, Sesshoumaru it would appear that your sword cannot do any real harm or any good.”

The hound from the Underworld had charged past Sesshoumaru toward his companions, the human children letting out a shriek. Kohaku let out a shriek, staggering backward, attempting to grab the younger Rin, but neither were able to escape its claws.

Without hesitation, the beast leaped toward the opening Sesshoumaru had carved in the sky, and he was quick to follow after his companions.

“Wait!” Inu Kimi shouted, “Sesshoumaru you intend to take the path to the Underworld? For what? To save two human children. You have never been prone to such foolishness!”

Sesshoumaru hesitated, glancing at his mother. She had risen from her throne, a feat uncommon for her to do in his company, he was beneath her here, he knew that. This was her own personal domain.

“Nor am I prone to it now, Mother.”

Sesshoumaru had leaped into the Maedo in pursuit of the children, leaving Inu Kimi in the company of Jaken.

When he returned, he knew, he knew what he must do. Rin had died twice. There was no telling what would happen if he stayed near her. She was young, mortal, human. She couldn’t carry on like this. She was not safe with him.

Nothing he could have gained was worth Rin’s life. Nothing he could have gained was worth the weight of Rin’s life. He was wrong, selfish, irresponsible.

He was just like his father, but worse. She was just a child, a loyal servant, but still. He should have never endangered her like this. He was wrong.

Inu Kimi smiled at her son as he emerged from the underworld, “So you’ve returned.”

“What’s wrong Sesshoumaru, you look so sad. Tenseiga has matured considerably and your maedo has expanded just as you’d hoped. Isn’t that cause for celebration?”

“Did you know this would happen to Rin?” Sesshoumaru asked in reply, glaring fiercely. “Did you, mother?”

“If I’m not mistaken you have already used Tenseiga to revive her once, have you not? Son, Tenseiga can only call a person back from death once.”

Sesshoumaru’s eyes widened.

“It only makes sense,” Inu Kimi explained, “Life is not supposed to be limitless after all. It’s not something that can be renewed over and over again for your own convenience. Sesshoumaru, had you come to believe that you were a God, perhaps? That you did not have to fear death as long as Tenseiga was in your hands? You needed to learn two things; the desire to save the life of a loved one taken by death and the sorrow and fear which accompanies that loss. Your father wanted me to tell you this: Tenseiga is a sword for healing, only someone who values life and has a compassionate heart may wield such a weapon and use its power to bury their enemies. That is the requirement of any that wish to be worthy of Tenseiga, a sword that can save lives and condemn others.”

Jaken wept beside Rin, wiping his large yellow eyes with his sleeves.

“Little Demon,” Inu Kimi said, “why are you crying.”

“It’s Jaken, Milady, and it’s just, Lord Sesshoumaru in his very nature will never shed tears, so I must cry in his stead.”

Inu Kimi raised her thin brows at her son, turning to face him, “Is that how you feel Sesshoumaru.”

He stared back at her, glaring. He said nothing.

He didn’t need to; Inu Kimi had seen that exact expression, mirrored on her late husband’s face the day she cast him out, the day he pledged his loyalty to a mortal woman, and she knew from the stony look in her son’s eyes, that she had lost her child to that same affliction.

“This is her last chance. You understand,” Inu Kimi said, firmly, before bending down to Rin’s level and placing the maedo stone on her neck. The stone pulsed on her small chest and the stone began to glow. Kohaku and Jaken watched intently, Sesshoumaru in turn was cautious.

“What is that?” Kohaku asked, watching the glow reach from the maedo stone.

“It’s the little girl’s life that was left behind in the underworld.”

When the stone ceased glowing, Rin’s eyes opened, she looked around, disorientated. Sesshoumaru’s heart stopped, he gazed at her, awe filling his core. He ground his teeth, watching, hesitant to believe.

“Rin!” Kohaku exclaimed.

“You’re back!” Jaken said.

She coughed, covering her mouth, but the noise ceased when Sesshoumaru reached toward her, placing his hand upon her cheek, she gazed up at him, her deep brown eyes sparkling. She took hold of his clawed hand and smiled.

“Lord Sesshoumaru,” she breathed, “You’re here.”

“You’re okay now, Rin.”

“I am,” She said with a smile.

Jaken turned to Inu Kimi, who had stood back amidst the return of the child’s life. She had swallowed hard.

“Excuse me, my good lady,” Jaken said, bowing, “Please allow me to thank you on Lord Sesshoumaru’s behalf.”

“Is Sesshoumaru happy that I’ve brought her back?”

“Very happy I presume.”

“All of this fuss over a little human girl,” Inu Kimi said, “He’s inherited one of his father’s more unusual traits.”

In the months after Naraku perished, Sesshoumaru spoke with Lady Kaede. They discussed arrangements and an outcome that would be best for Rin. It seemed clear that the safest place for her to be would be within the confines of the village that housed many of the people that brought down Naraku.

Even with Kagome gone, InuYasha, his menace of a brother, and his human companions had planted their roots and built homes in the village. They were staying put, and under their protection, he was sure that she would be safe. Albeit maybe not as safe as she was with him, but that was up for debate after she had been sent to the Underworld.

Rin would stay in the village, re-assimilate into a life in amongst humans, and make her own decision. She would make an informed choice, instead of one inspired by fear, like with Master Ungai. If she so chose to stay, Sesshoumaru would have to accept that. Just as if she were to go with him, Lady Kaede, should she still be around, or her successor would have to be equally as accepting. They were not to sway her.

Sesshoumaru had agreed, he was not his father, and to that day he was still disgusted by the idea of his father using his human form to seduce a princess and have her bear his child. No. He would leave everything up to Rin.

The hands of time turned differently for humans, and waiting wasn’t as arduous for demons. He would leave her gifts and go, she wouldn’t see him up close.

But, that didn’t mean that after the return of Kagome Higurashi, Sesshoumaru hadn’t been skeptical. And so, at dusk, he left Jaken and Ah-Un to rest and entered the village. Initially, he had hoped to simply speak to Kagome, hoping she would sense his aura and investigate. However, instead, he spotted her, Rin, sneaking out of her home and running, barefoot as she always did, toward a nearby field. He followed her.

It was only when she stopped to pick wildflowers that he made himself known, striding out into the light of a lonely moon. She had gasped, dropping her bouquet and gazed up at Sesshoumaru, her lips parting and whispering his name.

He gazed at her, fondly, he had missed her, “Rin, have you grown accustomed to life in the village? No one is bullying you or anything? Did you make a kimono out of the cloth I gave you the other day?”

Rin, awed by his presence in the field of flowers, nodded frantically, her eyes watering. It had been years since he had been able to speak with her, she had missed him so dearly. Words couldn’t escape her lips; she was stunned to silence. Was this a dream?

“When you are troubled, or anxious, or sad, or any other time, feel free to call on me. I will come to you immediately. Even if we are far apart, if you call my name, I will absolutely come flying to you. If you cannot speak, you can whistle, whistle through your fingers if you’d like. Distance is no object. Our hearts are tied together with the power of trust.”

She nodded furiously, holding her hands close to her chest, blush staining her cheeks. He kneeled on the flowers around her to look her in the eye, and placed a hand on her cheek, just as he did when his mother revived her.

“There is nothing to fear, simply having that feeling should be enough to fill your heart. That is why it is fine for things to remain as they are for now. We have plenty of time. You can examine your heart at your own pace. Until then, take care of yourself.”

And with that, he was gone again, “Lord Sesshoumaru!”

Of course, everyone in the village knew what Rin was going to decide. Although, none had seen the exchange in the flower field, and only Kagome and InuYasha were privy to those words, having recorded the conversation.

Everyone knew that she wept for nights on end, and hated being bound to one location. She was, despite her desperation for escapism, an asset to Lady Kaede’s village. Despite living in the Shrine Maiden’s home throughout her adolescence, Rin’s eyes were always on the clearing of trees. She longed to kick off her pinchy wooden sandals and go running barefoot along the rice fields.

She craved adventure, consistency was painful, and each day without the company of Lord Sesshoumaru made the ache in her chest grow. Especially after their reunion.

Occasionally, when he passed through, he would leave her gifts, often depositing them on his bane of a brother’s doorstep. Domestic life, however amusing it was, suited InuYasha. Perhaps it was the human blood in his veins. But, he lived in the same village he once tormented with his presence and had remained a loyal monogamist, sticking by the side of his chosen partner, the woman who unsealed him in the first place; reincarnation of his first love: Kagome Higurashi.

InuYasha was the one who put the gifts where he knew Rin would find them. And the residents of the village no longer feared the demons that wandered into their midst. Most were civilised enough to avoid confrontation altogether, and, even better, the majority refused to make conversation. Which made them bearable.

One night, a completely different gift had been dropped on InuYasha’s doorstep. Unlike the metres of beautiful, colourful fabric that Rin crafted into kimonos, this gift was a trinket. A necklace with large golden beads and a hefty onyx jewel in the centre which glistened like the night sky. A maedo stone.

InuYasha knew it smelt different, but enough like Sesshoumaru for him to ignore it. Rin wore it every day from then.

Humans often talked about the strange girl who lived in their village, how she had a demon’s favour, just like their beloved Shrine Maiden, Kagome.

Rin retired from the practice, she was too rambunctious to be tied down to responsibilities like that. She earned her keep in the village by teaching the children, she told them stories of her adventures with Lord Sesshoumaru, Master Jaken and Ah-Un. She wove dresses for the infants out of the scraps of material she did not need for her own garments. The rich fabrics she was gifted by Sesshoumaru easily dressed the entire village. Many of her kimonos were handed down to young girls once they no longer fit her. Rin did her best to be of use to the village but tried not to plant roots, as hard as it was.

Every day was just one closer to her escape, one day she would be able to put on her favourite gingham kimono, which glittered like the sun in the sky, and run away. She loved the village, and the people in it, but the world was wider than the rice fields and she wanted more.

She wanted to be with her lord.

On her nineteenth birthday, she woke at dawn, reaching under her futon and produced a neatly written scroll, Kagome’s name intricately etched into the paper. She left it on the shrine maiden’s doorstep and returned to her home, brushing her hair and getting dressed. She had never once doubted her choice but stayed just a bit longer after Lady Kaede died. Just to make sure the village would be okay. Yes, it was silly, but what was one more year.

She was a summer child and made sure to dress for her birthday in a beautiful sunset orange kimono, she had embroidered white lotus flowers into the fabric herself. She tied a white sash around her middle and tied her hair back, but, not without putting on the necklace she had been gifted. She was unsure who gave it to her, but she would be a fool not to take it with her. She filled a woven basket with food, and a few items, and made her way to the forest, a bright smile on her face.

As the sun rose, and the village residents heard Kagome read the letter Rin had left, a voice could be heard in the forest, bright and melodic, to the tune of feet on weeds.

“In the mountains in the breeze, in the sky and in my dreams, Lord Sesshomaru where are you? Jaken is serving under you too, I will wait for you on my own, Please return to me, Lord Sesshoumaru…As I return to you!”


End file.
